Observations on the physiology of the female genital organs, being a report to the Science Committee of the British Medical Association / by W. Blair Bell and Pantland Hick.
- William Blair-Bell
- Date:
- 1909
Licence: In copyright
Credit: Observations on the physiology of the female genital organs, being a report to the Science Committee of the British Medical Association / by W. Blair Bell and Pantland Hick. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![maximum, in normal circumstances, either by oral adminis- tration or subcutaneous injection, and even if this were possible—to have a lawyer’s alternative—clotting in the vessels, if they were healthy, would not occur. We have killed animals with intravenous injections of calcium salts without producing intravascular clotting, exce]_H ivhere the vessels had heen previously damaged. There is there- fore) we think, an optimum amount with a quickest normal clotting time, and the latter excess of calcium salts cannot increase. Given, of course, an inflamed or damaged vessel —for example, phlebitis after typhoid fever or arteritis— and one may get a deposit of lime salts in the damaged walls (vide supra), and possibly clotting in the damaged vessel, which will be most likely to occur if the calcium optimum index for clotting exists. One more point in this connexion. Sir A. E. Wright showed that the oral administration of an excess of calcium—which we presume he thought got into the blood —delayed clotting ; but apparently, from observations we have made, this is not due, as he thought, to an excess, but to a deficiency, in the blood. It is probable that after excessive dosage the body becomes immune or resistant to the absorption of calcium salts, or excessively active in their excretion, effected probably by the thyroid secretion. This point might with advantage be studied in infant feeding and rickets. Of the many other points that have interested us in taking a general survey of the calcium metabolism we may single out two which have brought into our minds matters of some importance. If we are right in our main belief that the calcium metabolism is largely concerned in the physiological pro- cesses of women, may not the alteration in the calcium economy at the menopause be to some extent accountable for the deposition of fat? This does not of course coincide with the general ideas concerning obesity and the allied metabolic processes to which that condition is usually attributed; but in view of the close connexion between certain fatty acids and calcium metabolism we feel that there may be some association which future investigation will lay bare. Excellent work on the relationship of these fatty acids to one another in regard to the absorption and deposition of fats, and on the formation of calcium soaps has already been carried out by O. T. Williams (loc. cit,). The other suggestion we would make is this: May not the deficient excretion of calcium soaps by the bowel in physiologically active women be the cause of chronic constipation—an ever-present evil with the female sex ? We think these points are well worthy of bio-chemical investigation. Before discussing the regulating factors it may be well to include here an observation which has given rise to some controversy. While looking for a suitable organic com- pound of calcium for hypodermic injection it occurred to us to try gelatine, which, as is well known, contains a large amount of calcium; indeed, it has been suggested](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22466484_0011.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
